U.S. Sen. Cortez Masto tours Valley Electric during Pahrump visit

U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, stopped in Pahrump on Tuesday, marking her first visit to town since winning the election in November 2016.

By Daria Sokolova Pahrump Valley Times

August 18, 2017 - 6:00 am

Horace Langford Jr./Pahrump Valley Times
U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, talks to Valley Electric Association CEO Tom Husted during her visit to Valley Electric on Tuesday. Cortez Masto tour of the facility marks her first visit to Pahrump since she won the election in November 2016.

Horace Langford Jr./Pahrump Valley Times
Valley Electric CEO Tom Husted shows U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, dispatch center where Valley Electric manages its output loads and monitors the weather. In an interview after the tour, Cortez Masto called Valley Electric “a model for the country on how the Internet of things and a new technology can work in efficiency.”

Horace Langford Jr./Pahrump Valley Times
Valley Electric CEO Tom Husted shows U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, dispatch center where Valley Electric manages its output loads and monitors the weather. Catherine Cortez Masto, who sits on several committees in the U.S. Senate said she has been looking to pass legislation that would create incentives for companies such as Valley Electric to innovate and get necessary resources.

Horace Langford Jr./Pahrump Valley Times
U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, met with Valley Electric Association officials for a closed meeting on Tuesday after the tour of the Valley Electric facility in Pahrump. In an interview before the closed meeting, Cortez Masto said rural broadband said rural broadband is key to addressing many challenges in rural communities.

U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, stopped in Pahrump on Tuesday, marking her first visit to town since winning the election in November 2016.

Cortez Masto toured the Pahrump-based co-op, Valley Electric Association, where she looked at the dispatch center and discussed broadband Internet and Valley Electric’s other initiatives with the company’s officials.

Valley Electric CEO Tom Husted gave Cortez Masto a brief overview of the dispatch center where VEA gets information about the weather and manages output loads.

“We are on the market 24/7 on power supply, which is also unusual for a small utility,” Husted told Cortez Masto.

Valley Electric currently provides energy to approximately 45,000 consumers along the Nevada-California line. Among the areas that it serves are Sandy Valley, Pahrump, Beatty, Amargosa Valley and Fish Lake Valley.

Husted said Valley Electric historically placed the vast majority of its assets into transmission infrastructure instead of generation.

“We are an island utility, we had to build a transmission, but then transmission allowed us to have avenues to markets, and so we weren’t tied down to one huge, long-term investment generation,” Husted said.

Husted said that Valley Electric can focus on the smallest parts of its system including poles and wires running down streets, as the technology allows them to zoom in and go after specific substations.

Husted said the entire grid is going to be operating on fiber-optics.

“It allows us to have that real-time communication,” he said. “Now, we are taking it the next step farther and with Valley Communications, we are running fiber-optics to every residence, business, etc.”

“We’ve got a product that is hard to manage, so the technology has to be increased to allow for smart grid, smart communities, smart consumers. And that’s where we need to go,” Husted said.

Committee work

Cortez Masto sits on six committees in the U.S. Senate. Among them are the Senate Committee on Energy, Natural Resources and the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

She said she has been looking at passing legislation that would create incentives for companies such as Valley Electric to innovate and get necessary resources.

“I have seen the future, it’s smart cities, it’s the Internet, interconnectivity. I think it’s going to be important at the federal level to support that, incentivize it,” she said.

“My goal is to make sure that we are addressing siting issues, as well as permitting issues, because most of Nevada is owned by the federal government, and so I’ve been very aggressive with those agencies already in the committees that I sit on asking them to coordinate and asking them to cut down the timelines for not only the permitting process but the siting for the infrastructure that’s needed for broadband, or anything else on federal lands,” she said.

In an interview after the tour, Cortez Masto called Valley Electric rural broadband “a model for the country on how the Internet of things and a new technology can work in efficiency.”

“This is cutting edge and it is an example of what really works when you are identifying your customers as a focus of the service that you provide,” Cortez Masto said.

Other rural issues

Rural broadband is key to addressing many challenges in rural communities such as services, workforce shortage, transportation and health care, Cortez Masto said.

“To me, rural broadband is an important first step because it not only opens up those lines of communication, it brings telemedicine, it brings telehealth, it brings education, so many opportunities to our rural communities that are a real challenge,” she said. “The other thing for me though is the transportation and the challenge we have getting people around who may not be mobile because they don’t have a car.”

Cortez Masto said she looks forward to participating in investing in Nevada’s and national infrastructure.

“It’s exciting for me to be able to be in the United States Senate and continue to work on projects like this and help to stimulate, promote, find funding for them and tear down the barriers where necessary,” she said.

Throughout the disruption and chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been everyday citizens doing incredible work to help their communities through these difficult times, giving countless hours and endless energy in the mission to keep people safe, healthy and connected and Nevada Health Response is striving to ensure those actions do not go unnoticed.

Pahrump Valley Youth Activities was nearly forced to forego its 2020 Summer Camp due to the COVID-19 pandemic but through a partnership with the NyE Communities Coalition, the beloved annual event has been saved and will now take place virtually, helping keep both participants and staff safe and healthy.

On Tuesday, June 2, the Nye County Commission held its first meeting with in-person public attendance since early March, when the governor declared a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 outbreak and issued an emergency directive banning gatherings of more than 10 people.

Leslie Street in the Pahrump Valley has a fresh new coat of asphalt, with paving of the 1-mile stretch between Irene Street and Basin Avenue concluding as of June 1. There is, however, still some finishing work to be done before the project is complete, tasks that, just as the prep work conducted before the paving was laid, will be handled by Nye County Public Works crews.

By continuing to browse or by clicking “I Accept Cookies” you agree to the storing of first-party and third-party cookies on your device. By agreeing to the use of cookies on our site, you direct us to disclose your personal information to our third party service providers for the purposes for which we collect your information.